This weekend I completed the Full Tilt Ultra, a 58km trail run through Glen Tilt which started in Blair Atholl in the heart of Highland Perthshire. True to form, the Scottish weather showed up in all its wild glory: sideways driving rain, bog, mist, just enough wind mixed in to make it almost impossible to see by kilometre 40.
The route itself? A beast in itself but just stunning.
We started at Blair Castle then ran deep in the glen and took on two of Perthshire’s 1000-meter Munros — Cairn a’ Chlamain and Beinn Dearg — both wrapped in cloud and wind about half way to the summit. The climbing were relentless, the descents needed taken at speed although with. great care, and the terrain just kept shifting from rocky paths to river crossings to that thick, energy-sapping bog that we know the Scottish hills are known for.
It wasn’t just a test of endurance, it was a test of patience, grit, and I just had to laugh when the rain was so heavy and winds so gusty it took the cap from right underneath my hood.
But somewhere between the highs of those ridgelines and the lows of hitting the wall as early as kilometre 30, I had that reminder of why I do this.
Because there’s something honest about the simplicity of putting one foot in front of the other when everything’s telling you to stop. I struggled with my stomach from about 30km, having to riun on empty until managing to force down some calories around 45km, within 15 minutes i was flying again and finished the final 13km strongly.
This isn’t for me just about completing Glen Tilt — it was about something bigger. This was another step towards the UTMB CCC, the 101km alpine ultra I’ll be running in France this August. That’s the goal. Starting in Courmayeur in Italy, running through Switzerland and finishing in Chamonix in France. 6000 metres plus in elevation.
And every run like this — in the rain, in the mud, in the doubt — is part of the story that gets me there.
So today, Sunday afternoon, the legs are wrecked. The trainers are in the outdoor drying room. The appetite is next level, and I’m and more determined than ever for what’s ahead in the next few months.
Here’s to the next climb and training session.
